When I was a kid-True stories

[westmar]

This is simple and True, I lived it.
When I was a kid, over many years ago-lol- from a family of 8 kids, my 2 brothers and 2 sisters and I that were being raised at home-
3 of my sisters had made adulthood by 17 or 18 and married and left home.

We lived 5 miles from the nearest town of 50 people......the town was Creston, California. There was a post office, a one room school k thru 8 and a school Library.

There was also a bar/pool table/grocery store called the ;Long Branch'. I Spent some time there with the folks and my siblings.....

Well, there was an old fella by the name of Johnny Jespersin who was a war Veteran. He had broke his neck somehow, I am unclear as to if it was during the war or not, he always wore a neck brace. He always had on Levi's, a Levi shirt and a white undershirt. Good pionty cowboy boots as that was what was made then.
He had a very special horse named 'lil' buck, most likely 'Little Buck', that he rode to and from the 'Long Branch'. The horse was a big beautiful fat QH Buckskin gelding.The two often drank away Johnny's social security and veteran benefits. Let me tell you, they both could drink!
I was about 5 years old and was in love with Little Buck, Johnny would come out of the Bar/Billards/Grocery store, and give his horse bottled beer. Johhny would talk to me and tell my younger brother John and I stories. Johnny Jes would hold the bottle, put it to 'Bucks' lips and Buck would up end it. I remember seeing Johnny taking the bottle after the fact and upending it as well. They would share a 6 pack or more-I was just a kid, but I remember the grown ups remarking on how drunk the horse was as Johnny rode him off towards his home-I had no idea what that meant. They seemed happy as Johnny was singing, I do not remember what, but he sang.

As an adult, several years later, I was to learn that the local police had many complaints about how Johnny treated Little Buck.
I know Buck and Johnny had been together well over 30 years, Buck was Johnny's life and still in good health/weight... Animal Control took Buck, Johnny commited suicide the same day......

[lunanightwolf]

Oh my gosh! That's horrible! How could they do that to that poor man!? I mean, if the horse was healthy they didn't that the rights to take him away from the man. I had a horse when i was about 7 or 8, and my dad use to let him drink beer with him and he was a healthy horse. Shoot right now my mare drinks coffee with my uncle everyone and has a baby ruth candy bar with him too. And she's in perfect health...some people are just wrong to take away someones pet just because of they way that treat them. As long as the pet is healthly and happy, i don't see why not just leave them be...

It happens too often that us humans are so inhumane and do so many cruel things to other people. Such a sad story. At least both are together today over the rainbow and probably still sharing drinks.

[Garrett-N-Texas]

Westmar.....Great story!!

I cant help but wonder............What brought this memory back to the surface?

LunaNightWolf...........I would suggest that "Lil Buck" was not a "pet"......I think that Companion would be a more appropriate term............
Seldom do people take their life over the loss of a "pet"..........

Jr............Almost all higher culture comes from the spiritualization of cruelty....... "The center of humanity is cruelty / There is never redemption / Any fool can regret yesterday"

[lunanightwolf]

i know the horse was more than a pet, all my animals are more than a pet to me. If anything like that happened to my girls i would die...I love all my babies with everything i am. I cry if i even make my girls upset.

[westmar]

Tex, I will have to ponder on why this memory came up.....I know I was thinking about when I was a kid and the ponies and horses we had. That led me to thinking about Johnny.

A good memory was this though: I remember one night at the Long Branch, Johnny told one of my older sisters she was ALMOST as cute as his 'Lil Buck', my sister got embarrased and walked away. Being only 5 yrs old I thought that was a great compliment....

Yeah, I will have to ponder on this......

[westmar]

In Pondering really quick, I realized that I had been thinking about the poem you posted Tex, the one about the child who comes home and talks about all of his 'rights' and how the father responds to him.

It had got me to thinking about when I was a kid and how what my parents said and whatever rules were layed down-that was it! No questions asked or you would get your butt whipped for questioning their authority. We all excepted it.

We were also allowed a ton of freedom. The 5 of us kids at home could pile on the 3 ponies we had and be gone all day and when we got back home no-one asked where we had been or what we were doing. [more stories to come]

So-that is why I was thinking about when I was a kid and then thought about Johnny and how his rights and his life were stripped from him.

How, if we are not careful, our rights will be taken from us....

[Garrett-N-Texas]

That's how I grew up also, and you are correct, they are going to take all of our rights away if we do not remain vigilant!!

Its like with this "Swine flu" thing............as a pandemic Hussein Obama can declare martial law and deploy our troops within our borders!!

[westmar]

OH-I forgot that part.